


children . yay or nay ?

by Florchis



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Multi, Relationship Discussions, parenthood discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29235975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florchis/pseuds/Florchis
Summary: When Daisy sent them a text message asking about their stance on children, they should have expected this outcome.
Relationships: Lincoln Campbell/Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	children . yay or nay ?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TomatoBookworm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomatoBookworm/gifts).



> Hello everyone, the Valentine gifts keep on coming!
> 
> Written for the prompt: “Well… that was unexpected.”
> 
> Warning: this mentions Lincoln's alcoholism, but only in terms of his sobriety and of him trying to do right by himself and his partners by being careful and thoughtful about it.

_ Daisy: now… honesty time . children . yay or nay ? _

_ Jemma: Oh, children are so cute! But messy. Why do you ask? _

_ Daisy: i meant more like.. parenthood . do you want to have children? us to have kids ?  _

_ Lincoln: ...is this really a text message discussion though? _

_ Jemma: I have to agree with Lincoln here, love _

_ Daisy: mkay  _

* * *

“Okay, this is… unexpected.”

“Shhh! You are going to wake her!”

Lincoln comes out of the kitchen toweling his hands at hearing Jemma’s surprised tone when she went to welcome Daisy at the door. ‘Unexpected’ sells it short: maneuvering to get inside the house without making too much noise or too sudden movements is Daisy. Reclined on Daisy's chest, a small girl that Daisy is very carefully trying to not jostle awake.

‘Unexpected’ is an understatement.

Jemma looks still too shocked, standing in front of the door paralyzed, and Lincoln pushes her gently to the side, opening a path for Daisy, who looks at him with grateful eyes.

“Guest room first, talking later,” he mouths to her and then sighs while he walks to the kitchen to get started on the tea water to jumpstart Jemma.

* * *

Lincoln has turned off the oven on dinner and Jemma has gulped down half a cup of Earl Grey- strictly speaking, not an evening tea, but she looked like she needed something stronger than herbal infusions- by the time Daisy comes out of the guest room again. 

Maybe the tea was a bad idea because Jemma looks really anxious, and Lincoln, who was refraining the crazy theories till Daisy came to them again, can sympathize: he too feels like his skin is too tight for his body like there is an itch he needs to scratch but that itch is placed under his bones. 

Daisy is nervous too, wringing her hands together like a kid that knows that they have done something naughty but are still counting on their puppy eyes to get out of trouble. Well, this is not going to work for her this time.

Or at least it shouldn’t.

“Surprise?” she says with a forced smile and the accompanying hand gesture. Jemma chokes on her tea.

Lincoln waits for a second to make sure Jemma is okay before going to Daisy and giving her a hug- despite whatever she might have done, it is important to him that she is reminded that they love her, above everything.

“When you asked what we thought about kids, I didn’t realize you were talking about right now,” he says when they break apart, as gently as he can manage.

“Neither did I!” Jemma claims in between coughs, and Daisy deflates on top of the couch, her hands rubbing soothing circles on Jemma’s back.

“I am sorry guys, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you with this.”

Lincoln sits down on the armrest of the couch, both he and Daisy encompassing Jemma who still looks a little like a deer caught in headlights.

“What is this, exactly? Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

Daisy bites her lip, looking at him and at Jemma in turns, “Aren’t you guys mad?”

Lincoln closes his eyes for a second to consider his feelings. Shocked? Yes. Worried? Yes. Scared shitless? Yes. Angry? Not so much. Maybe a decade back he would have lashed out badly at feeling backed into a corner, but age and love have softened him around the edges. He had learned to control his temper and hear someone out before going ballistic.

Whatever is that Daisy did, they can work their way through it- not for nothing he is married to two of the smartest women he knows.

“Just tell us, Daisy,” Jemma replies for him, and Lincoln places a hand on the nape of her neck in lieu of thanking her. “We can’t help if you don’t talk to us.”

It’s exactly the right thing to say because Daisy takes a deep breath and starts talking: about the mission that went right, but too late; how a civilian couple died before they could get there, and they found this small child crying in her crib. How May instructed her to stay with the girl to protect her, and the moment she lifted her up and held her close, she was a lost cause. Still, she and May checked for immediate relatives and came back empty-handed. 

“I couldn’t leave her on base to see what the future holds for her, guys, I just couldn’t. I know people at base would have taken care of her, but she just looked so peaceful sleeping on me, you know? It would have broken my heart to disturb her.” 

By the time Daisy is done talking, Jemma is on the verge of tears- Daisy has always been good with her words, especially to convey emotions, and Jemma has always had high levels of empathy. Lincoln, who was also known for being emotional, has learned to try to be more practical to balance these two.

“Do you know what will happen to her?” It is hard to be the bad guy, but it is the right question to ask before Daisy gets even more attached or Jemma gets attached at all.

“May said she will look into more distant family or close family friends, but if no one comes up, she will go into the system.” Her voice breaks and Lincoln knows exactly what she is going to say before she even opens her mouth. “I can’t do that to her, you know that. I don’t want to push you guys into something you might not be ready for, but I can’t abandon her.”

Coming from someone else, it could be a calculated threat: accept this thing I want or I walk. Coming from Daisy, it’s just a statement of how much this means to her: she is willing to lose them, something she fought so hard for, in order to care for someone else.

“Okay, but that means the decision doesn’t have to happen tonight.”

It's a bit of a cop-out and he knows it, but he needs some time to clear his mind, take a hard, long look at himself and face the ever-present question of if he feels capable- not only now, but at all- to father a child. Deciding to marry them was a big decision on his part, and it required enough self-awareness to check if his sobriety could handle the stress and issues that might arrive with married life. Adding a child onto the mix is not a decision that can be taken lightly, and Lincoln wants to honor it with as much consideration as the pressing time frame will allow him. 

Besides, Jemma will need time to do research and make plans, if he knows her at all.

“No,” Daisy replies and in her eyes, he can read that she already has her answer. He can not lie: that means that at least half of his and Jemma’s calls have already been made. “It doesn’t have to be tonight. But soon.”

“Soon,” Lincoln repeats like a mantra while he strokes Daisy’s cheek.

Jemma presses her head against his chest before echoing, “Soon.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of LLF Comment Project, whose goal is to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
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> This author replies to comments (but it might take a while). If you'd rather not get a reply, please add *whispers* to your comment.



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